Reconstruction Period 1866-1877

Unit 5-Expanding Rights For African AmericansRebuilding the South after the Civil War was not easy.

This time period after the Civil War in American History is called Reconstruction1865-1877

Defined as the period when the United States made policies to rebuild the South after the Civil War.

Started by Lincoln but he was assassinated April 14, 1865, his VP Andrew Johnson would take over

Reconstruction Amendments..

•13th: abolished slavery•14th: overruled Dred v. Scott (1857) which had stated black people could not be citizens. Therefore, requiring states to grant citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the United States and promising “equal protection of the laws.”•15th: Gave all men (African Americans) right to vote.

Major Questions following the war:•How to re-build the South?•How to bring Southern states back into

the United States?•How to bring former slaves into the

United States as free men and women?

40% of livestock were killed50% of farm machinery was destroyed

Should the Southern Confederate states be

punished for starting the war?

The Presidential Plan

•Confederate states would be forgiven as long as they pledged loyalty to the Union (the North) and support emancipation (no slavery).

•This allowed any past Confederate (Southern) males to hold office and …

…restore their old way of life.

Black Codes

Local sheriffs used Black Codes as an excuse to show white superiority.

•Laws passed from state to state to keep former slaves dependent on whites.

•Forced freedmen to work plantations for little money.

White reaction in the South

•Private white groups were formed to maintain white control in the South

•One group formed in 1866 was the Klu Klux Klan. The KKK terrorized African Americans and whites who supported equality.

Government reaction

•Many Northerners and Radical Republicans in Congress wanted to pass laws to make sure all people had equality.

•So they passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 giving African Americans the same legal rights as white Americans.

•BUT…

Congress fought back passing the 14th Amendment giving all

Americans equal protection under the law. Then 2 years later the 15th Amendment

gave all men the right to vote.

Meanwhile in the South…Supporters of African American rights were labeled as Scalawags

or scoundrels

People from the North moved to the South to join the Scalawags. They were called Carpetbaggers and they wanted to rebuild the South, change State Governments, create schools, and end the law that required you to own property to vote and hold office.

Progress…

•It became illegal in the South for railroads, hotels, and any public facilities to discriminate against African Americans.

•All Black Codes were thrown out.

•But…Still had segregation

The fight for land…

•Owning land was a symbol of freedom to freedmen in the rural South.

•But, landowners would not sell to African Americans since it would give former slaves power.

SO

•Many became sharecroppers- instead of working for money farmers worked for a share in the landowners’ crop.

•Freedmen and southern farmers were very poor.

Violence in the South

•African American leaders were the main targets of terrorist groups in the South like the KKK.

•Only a small number of whites participated with them, but others showed support or just turned away.

Should the US Army step in?Wasn’t the Civil War over?

•State Governments tried to stop the violence by sending in troops.

The tide turns against Reconstruction

When the Supreme Court rules in the Slaughterhouse

cases that CIVIL RIGHTS IS A STATE

ISSUEThe troops left the South with

no protection.

Reconstruction ended (Exit slip)What is one good thing and bad thing that this time period left behind?